Some feel Durham putting up too many stop signs

By Andrea Bulfinch

abulfinch@fosters.com

fosters.com

By Andrea Bulfinch

abulfinch@fosters.com

Posted Jan. 11, 2013 at 3:15 AM

By Andrea Bulfinch

abulfinch@fosters.com

Posted Jan. 11, 2013 at 3:15 AM

DURHAM — Speaking before the Town Council Monday evening, 24-year town resident Henry Smith, was straight forward about his feelings toward the increasing number of signs bringing motorists to a complete halt in the college town.

“Im not happy with the proliferation of stop signs in Durham,” he said.

Noting specifically the three-way intersection of McDaniel Drive and Mill Road, he said the decision to place more stop signs throughout the community is based on the opinions and concerns of only a handful of residents.

His suggestion, rather than posting red signs making vehicles stop and go as they travel from point to point, was to install blinking lights or even speed bumps in areas considered busy or dealing with a high traffic volume.

Otherwise, he said, it would only make sense to put the signs everywhere.

“Let us proliferate stop signs to every other intersection in town,” he said.

He noted Churchill Road and the area near the town post office as spots that would potentially benefit from the action.

Sharing a story of when he was “slammed into by a pickup truck and sent “sprawling into the snow and ice,” while crossing a street in town, Smith urged councilors to reconsider the use of so many stop signs, though he also stated that, his advice is rarely heeded by the council.

Some residents, however, have provided more positive feedback than what Smith shared at the council meeting. Town Administrator Todd Selig shared with Foster’s a letter from resident Gayle Henderson which he received in support of the stop signs at McDaniel Drive and Mill Road, saying it makes crossing the road at that intersection a lot safer. Selig said this positive feedback is similar to the majority of feedback he’s been hearing.

“This email is quite consistent with others we have received from those who wish to retain the three-way stop,” he wrote.

“We hope that the town realizes that this three-way stop has had a positive impact on this family neighborhood. Slowing down the traffic and forcing people to stop is important to creating an environment where families want to live and walk. The town has made a lot of progress by adding the speed tables to various busy roads. Removing the stop sign would be encouraging students and others to go back to racing out of town down Mill Road,” Henderson wrote.

Smith said fewer stop signs would also benefit the environment as forcing cars to stop and then proceed is only “spewing carbon emissions” into the air.

“Even to stop Kurz as he barrels up the road to the police station,” he acknowledged, would be an effective use of the signs if the town is to continue placing them.

Durham Police Chief David Kurz was not available Tuesday to defend his driving habits or comment on Smith’s displeasure with stop signs. Kurz was not expected back until Thursday.